Before the cold cans and pay per view start, let me fill you in on the boys teams in the south, now that the LCPS tournament is complete:
1st off: the LCPS schools are set and primed to be a force again in the next year or two....maybe not this one, but soon.
Onate boys won the tournament, beating Mayfield.
Onate is just full throttle, pedal to the metal. They defend well and they transition very well. They might be a legit player in district if they can keep it together. They have a history of these good starts only to fade away in September and October.
Mayfield is quickly getting their ship righted. They are overall young (5-6 seniors) and play a very possession based game. They spread you out and cut you open with sharp passing (we learned that lesson Friday). Look for them to maybe get to the playoff round and possibly advance.
LC beat Centennial for 3rd.
Cruces is young and at first glance look small, but boy can they move the ball. This is the team to watch in the year or two if they hold together.
Centennial had a lackluster tourney. Of the teams I would've picked to win it, it wouldve been Centennial. Cant say why they ended up at 4th place, but they need to find themselves the next few games before district rolls around.
As you can see, all four 6A schools placed 1-4. How will that pan out in district, who knows? But if they keep beating each other....who is gonna beat Hobbs? They each need to steal one vs Hobbs to make this one crazy race.
All four 5A schools placed 5th-8th. All four are in the same district, so that leads to many questions.
ST beats Alamo for 5th
ST were severely humbled by a strong Mayfield team 1-6 in the first round. ST then won the next game vs Deming 4-0. The game vs Alamo could be a precursor to the district standings. The game was fast, intense and did not feel like a 5th place game for both teams...there were severe undertones throughout. From our POV Alamo was 3rd in district last year and they still have to go through us and Chapa.
Alamo...dont crown them yet. They go 1-2 with their win vs Chapa and the two losses vs Onate and Santa Teresa. As objectively as possible, the pieces are there, but they are not playing with the same flair or nous as last season. They came in flying with their early big wins, but will this ground them or motivate them?
Chapa beats Deming for 7th
Chapa is not the same Chapa...yet. They have been without their top returning goalscorer due to an eye injury all season. They played Alamo tough. Result was 2-4, but that score is not indicative of how the game went. The difference here was Foltz for Alamo. Alamo had the true scorer, Chapa doesnt have theirs...yet.
Deming has a new coaching staff and tons of new players. I still stand by my claim that Lalo Amaya is one of the better players in the district. He buzzed the Centennial goal multiple times in the opener, was highly marked and watched in the ST game and did not play in the Chapa game.
